This year's Dawn Chorus programme took place on Sunday, May 6th 2018, and was a roaring success! All India Radio producer Monika Gulati sent us a pic of herself sporting our Dawn Chorus beanie!!

May Events

Well whilst our Dawn Chorus programme may have finished for another year, throughout May, events are still taking place around the country to celebrate the beautiful birdsong that our feathered friends provide. For more information on these events, and on the annual Burren In Bloom festival that takes place from May 18th - 20th, visit our events listings page! And if you have an event you'd like to let our listeners know about, e-mail mooney@rte.ie.

Each feature and documentary is a unique collaboration between Derek and the expert presenters which creates a vivid word picture for the listener. As Derek says "there’s no visual distraction on radio. You’ve got to get the right people to tell the stories and the stories have to be interesting". Derek has produced a wide range of documentaries and features covering such diverse subjects as the Swedish botanist Karl Linnaeus, the story of Keiko the killer whale (star of the movie Free Willy) and 50 years of the Eurovision Song Contest - not to mention an absolute wealth of natural history documentaries!

The star of the movie Free Willy was an Orca (or killer whale) called Keiko. This documentary charts Keiko's journey from a Mexico city amusement part to the Westman islands in Iceland where he is preparing for freedom - on his way back home. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by Richard Collins. Produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 42:30

Swan doctor Richard Collins travels to North America to view the 'Trumpeter' swan. The Trumpeter is the largest swan in the world and the heaviest flying animal. In this programme Richard Collins visits Airlie, Virginia, and talks to Dr. Bill Sladen, director of the Trumpeter Swan project, and his dedicated staff. He also talks to the 'swan-mammas' who dress up in white suits before approaching the swans (so that the birds retain their fear of people) and the pilot (also dressed up for the occasion) who takes to the skies each day with his swan trainees.

The American alligator is the official state reptile of Florida. They are an essential part of the ecosystem but not everyone likes them. There are over 1.8 million people and an estimated 1.3 million Alligators living in Florida. Many residents of the sunshine state regard the Alligator as a nuisance while others wonder at the beauty of this American Anti-hero.

Presented by Richard Collins and produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 41:50

A new series of four wildlife documentaries. From the Red Kite to the Whooper Swan and from Iceland to Africa, this four part series on RTÉ Radio 1 takes four highly-respected Irish ornithologists on a busman's journey of discovery. This first documentary is presented by UCD lecturer, Dr. Richard Collins, who writes a weekly natural history column with the Irish Examiner as well as regularly contributing to the Mooney Goes Wild radio programme. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by Eric Dempsey and produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 42:28

Ornithologist and author Eric Dempsey presents this second programme in the series, which looks at the amazing journey of the swallow which sees, in the space of five months, the bird go from being an egg to arriving in Africa. This documentary looks at the whole life cycle of Irish swallows from the moment the adults arrive and and begin nesting to the laying of the first eggs. It will follow the progress of young birds in the nest to their arrival in South Africa. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by Terry Flanagan and produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 42:38

Terry Flanagan, who is a trained biologist and a regular contributor to the Mooney Goes Wild radio programme, presents the third programme in this series looking at the Jay. Although shy by nature, Jays are found in every county of Ireland hidden in oak woodlands. Often mistaken for a more exotic bird, the Jay looks as if it would be more at home in a rain forest than in Ireland! Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by John O'Halloran and produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 42:03

Professor John O'Halloran is an ornithologist at UCC, and in this documentary, he focuses on the Whooper swan, which is one of three species of swan that occur in Ireland along with the Mute Swan and the Bewick's swan. This programme tracks the large migratory bird from its breeding grounds in Iceland, and follows their movements to Ireland in late September before their departure again in the spring. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by Eric Dempsey and produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 40:52

In this documentary from the Mooney Goes Wild team, naturalist and author, Eric Dempsey fulfils a lifelong ambition when he comes face to face with one of the world's most elusive creatures, the Wolf. Eric looks at the history of wolves in Ireland and the place the wolf has in Irish mythology. Travelling to Germany, he discovers the status of wolves and the threats they face in Europe and across the world; he also comes face-to-face with captive wolves. Finally, Eric makes a journey of discovery to the mid-western United States in search of wild wolves. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by Terry Flanagan and produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 40:53

In this documentary from the Mooney Goes Wild team, biologist and Secondary schoolteacher, Terry Flanagan looks at the life of our Fallow Deer. Born within a couple of hundred metres of the Phoenix Park, Terry spent much of his childhood fascinated by these majestic animals that roamed the Park. The population of Fallow Deer have been present in the Phoenix Park for over 300 years now. They have become an icon, not just to to Dubliners, but to everybody in Ireland. Many place-names throughout the country are derived from the former presence of fallow deer, or more particularly the parks in which they were confined. There are locations called Deerpark in at least 16 counties. The highlight of this year-long project for Terry was the birth of a young fawn and the subsequent intensive study, tagging and monitoring of the individual animals following their release. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by Richard Collins and produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 39:45

In this, the third of a four-part series of wildlife documentaries from the Mooney Goes Wild team, Dr Richard Collins explores the mysterious world of the Kingfisher. Irish birds are, by international standards, a dull unpretentious lot, the avian equivalent of the 'plain people of Ireland'. The Kingfisher is so glamorous that it looks out of place here. Its extraordinary colours are more appropriate to the tropics than to a cloudy overcast island. New ways of persuading kingfishers to nest have been developed at the Rye Meads nature reserve in London. The discoveries there were used with spectacular success this summer in Wicklow. Presenter Dr Richard Collins and producer Derek Mooney visit the RSPB site at Rye Meads and Druids Glen in Wicklow to talk to experts about the life and times of Ireland's most glamorous bird. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by Eanna ni Lamhna and produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 39:48

In this, the final programme of a four part series of wildlife documentaries from the Mooney Goes Wild team, ecologist and lecturer Eanna ni Lamhna looks at the life of the Arctic Fox. The wild and beautiful Iceland forms a background to this whimsical look at the Arctic fox - an animal that was once here but fell a victim to global warming the last time round. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by Richard Collins and produced by Derek Mooney. Duration: 50:46

The great Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, was the first person to grow bananas in Europe! But more than that, he gave his name to the method of naming new discoveries of flora and fauna. Whenever the Latin name of a plant or an animal appears, the name of the person who first described it is also given. Most of the plants and animals of Europe, and many from elsewhere, were described by him and the naming system, which he perfected, has proved to be an extraordinarily useful scientific tool. Derek and Richard embarked on a Linnaean pilgrimage in 2007, visiting Sweden, Holland and England to make a radio documentary on the great man. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Each year, from late October through to February, hundreds of thousands of Starlings come together to form magnificent aerial displays just before they roost. Why do they do it? In this special programme, Starlings, Derek Mooney and Dr. Richard Collins investigate one of nature's greatest spectacles: Starling murmurations... Click here to find out more about this documentary.

The crow is a bird that is loved and loathed in equal measure. Collectively known as a murder of crows, they are birds strongly associated with death. In Hindusim, crows are believed to be ancient ancestors, Ovid saw the crow as a bringer of rain, and here in Ireland, the banshee often took the form of a crow. So what's the real deal with these corvids? Derek Mooney presents a special programme from the Mooney Goes Wild team called All About Crows... Click here to find out more about this documentary.

On Saturday, June 25th 2005, a man from Monaghan endeavoured to make it into the Guinness Book Of World Records. The record-breaking attempt featured live on Mooney Goes Wild, and the man at the centre of all the buzz was our very own bee expert, Philip McCabe. From that moment on, he became known as 'The Beeman'. Fast forward twelve years, and Philip is now President of Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeeper's Associations. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

This brand new wildlife radio documentary is all about The Common Swift (Apus apus). Join Derek as he learns about efforts being made across Europe, from Cork to Warsaw, and from Belfast to Baku in Azerbaijan, to learn more and thus help save this favourite summer visitor! Featuring Niall Hatch, Development Officer with BirdWatch Ireland. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

In this special edition of the programme, we find out more about roosting starlings and rooks! Where do birds roost - and why? Derek Mooney teams up Richard Collins and Eugene Dunbar (from BirdWatch Ireland) at Lough Ennell in Co. Westmeath, as they find out about the marvellous starling murmurations that can be viewed there. And in the nearby village of Kilbeggan, Terry Flanagan talks to local man TP O'Gorman, and Eanna chats to ornithologist Eric Dempsey, about the numerous amount of crows that can be found roosting there... Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Take a stroll along one of our rivers or streams, and there's a good chance that you may not be the only one walking. Under the water, out of sight, one of Ireland's most interesting and unusual birds may be walking with you. The Dipper is a strange creature indeed. It's the only European songbird which forages underwater. In his new documentary, The Dipper, Derek Mooney learns about the latest research into the habits and characteristics of this most intriguing of birds, discovers how dipper nestboxes are constructed, learns about the many interesting names given to the Dipper, and he travels to Barcelona, to find out how analysing a dipper's feathers can indicate the stress level of the bird and the environment. Click here to find out more about this documentary.

Presented by Eanna ni Lamhna and produced by Sheila O'Callaghan. Duration: 58:27

They say you're never more than six feet from a rat. In this new documentary, we burrow into the underground world of one of our most vilified creatures, the rat. Naturalist Eanna ni Lamhna, is our intrepid guide... Click here to find out more about this documentary.

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